The Last Will Be the Last (2015)

I never cared much about Massimiliano Bruno's films as he usually does comedies and Italian comedies are pretty bad these days. The Last Will Be the Last (Italian: Gli ultimi saranno ultimi) is a dramedy though and it has Alessandro Gassmann in it so I gave it a chance. 

The film follows Luciana (Paola Cortellesi), a woman who can't really complain about her life. Sure, she is not the wealthiest woman as she is only a factory worker but she is happily married to Stefano (Alessandro Gassmann) and she is surrounded by friends. On top of that, her dream of becoming a mother is finally coming true. Unfortunately, her contract is coming to an end and her employer doesn't renew it because of her pregnancy. Since her husband spends all of his time hanging out in cafes and doing unsuccessful businesses, she finds herself in a difficult financial and familiar situation.

There are a couple of stories that intertwine with Luciana's, that of Antonio (Fabrizio Bentivoglio), a frustrated and disgraced police officer who got transferred to Luciana's town after an unfortunate incident, and that of Manuela, a trans woman who just wants a normal life.

The Last Will Be the Last doesn't have much of a plot, to be honest, but it's not a problem as it manages to touch many issues we have in Italy nowadays such as being jobless and the lack of financial means to provide for your family. Not only this turns a beautiful thing such as having a baby into something to worry about, but it prevents people from leading a dignified life. The film also deals with gambling and shows how it easily can destroy a family.

What the film does best is portraying a woman in modern-day Italy. Married to an immature man incapable of taking any sort of responsibility, Luciana does a job she doesn't like, a job that doesn't even pay that well, but she puts up with it because she has to put food on the table and keep a roof over her and her husband's head.

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That is one of the reasons Luciana's is the most compelling story, the one it's easier to emphasize and sympathize with. Then, of course, there's the performance by Paola Cortellesi. I've seen her only once before, and it was in a dumb comedy, so I wasn't expecting much from her but she blew me away. She gives such a strong and touching performance in here and really makes me want to see more of her work. 

The supporting cast, specifically Alessandro Gassmann as the husband and Fabrizio Bentivoglio as the cop, does a pretty good job too. 

What's unfortunate about The Last Will Be the Last is that the filmmakers weren't able to achieve that balance between comedy and drama you need in a dramedy. While the drama works fine, the comedy barely works. 

God Willing (2015)

I'm pretty sure I've said this already several times in the past, but Alessandro Gassmann (yes, he is the son of the great Vittorio Gassman) is the only living Italian actor I like and I'd watch anything for him. Just like happened with Non c'è più religione, which turned out to be a very crappy film, I saw the trailer to God Willing (Italian: Se Dio vuole) when it hit theatres years ago but then I forgot about it. Unlike for that other one, I'm glad I eventually watched this as it is a pretty enjoyable film. 

Tommaso (Marco Giallini) is successful and respected cardiac surgeon who also happens to be an atheist. When his son Andrea (Enrico Oetiker) who is a medical student announces that he wants to leave the studies and become a priest, Tommaso loses his mind, and , while acting as if he is supporting his, he goes undercover to investigate and bring down father Don Pietro (Alessandro Gassmann) who he believes brain-washed his son.

Though there's a subplot about Tommaso's wife that feels out of place as it has absolutely nothing to do with the main story, the plot is simple but original, and it manages to be interesting and engaging from start to finish. The best part of the story? Easily the ending which is far from the typical, clichéd happy ending many Italian movies have nowadays.

The screenplay isn't by any means perfect though. Most of the characters are just stereotypes and don't have a lot of depth, but the main character, Tomasso, has more depth and development than your average Italian character. He is arrogant and cynical, the kind of person who needs control over everything but especially everyone he cares for. Then there's his name which is not random at all. Having read the Bible, I know that Tommaso was the only one of Jesus's apostles who needed proof, visual proof, to believe in Jesus's resurrection. And I really appreciate this from the screenwriters. *SPOILER*Do I believe that, in the end, Tomasso believes in God? No, I don't, but he is definitely a more open-minded person.*SPOILER*

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Marco Giallini, who I saw and loved in All Freud's Fault, does a great job as Tomasso, not only capturing and delivering the character's personality traits very well but especially in delivering the character's growth and change and making them believable. Then, of course, I loved Alessandro Gassmann too. Though the character could have used more depth, he finally gets to play something different from the arrogant and rich guy he often plays, and he does a pretty good job and he brings so much charisma into this. The chemistry between Giallini and Gassmann is pretty good and makes the interactions between their characters a pleasure to watch. The rest of the cast doesn't have a lot to do though, especially Laura Morante who finds herself stuck in that subplot I mentioned above, but some still manage to do a good job, those being Ilaria Spada as Bianca, Tommaso's silly goose daughter and Edoardo Pesce as Gianni, Tommaso's son-in-law.

Ultimately, God Willing is a humorous comedy that deals with religion --and the calling-- in a different way without being neither anti nor pro clerical.